Precifast saves millions with smart energy metering
Precifast consists of two companies: Calix, known for its electric preheaters, and Preciform, a plastic/metal/assembly company with extensive experience in manufacturing mechanical components and styling/storage systems. In the fall of 2022, electricity prices skyrocketed, and the company realized they needed to take the energy issue very seriously. With the help of Energitrappan they got a basic structure for the energy efficiency work, but it was only when they started measuring at a detailed level with DAZOQ Energy Intelligence (EI) that their energy optimization really took off.
With DAZOQ's wireless meter, Håkan Möller, Quality and Environmental Manager at Precifast, gained full visibility into when and where energy is consumed in production. This detailed information provided completely new insights and made it possible to identify concrete savings measures, reduce power peaks and avoid unnecessary investments – all worth millions.
FULL CONTROL WITH DETAILED MEASUREMENT DATA
An early example was the ventilation in the company's premises. By measuring exactly how much energy was being used, the airflow could be controlled more intelligently according to the season – more incoming air in winter, more outgoing air in summer. This simple adjustment resulted in an annual saving of 200 000 kWh, corresponding to approximately 300 000 SEK.
Another important measure was the granulate feed to the 13 injection molding machines. The measurements showed that the existing machine, despite being only two years old, never went into standby mode automatically. By switching to a new machine that could switch itself off when not in use, energy consumption was reduced from 1500 kWh per week to 500 kWh. This corresponds to an annual saving of 52 000 kWh, or approximately 75 000 SEK.
The measurements also revealed that the new hardening furnace was not performing as expected. By analyzing detailed energy data from DAZOQ EI, Precifast and the supplier were able to understand that the higher energy efficiency is only achieved when the furnace is operated with multiple shelves at the same time. Without DAZOQ EI, the investment could have risked never becoming profitable. In addition, they could see that the two brazing and hardening furnaces were now contributing to the company's high power peaks when they were operated simultaneously. By scheduling the operation, these peaks of up to 800 kW was avoided, which resulted in an annual cost reduction of approximately 25 000 SEK.
MILLIONS IN SAVINGS
A more unexpected saving was identified thanks to an understanding of the company's future electricity needs. When Precifast planned to grow from five to thirteen injection molders, from one to two curing ovens, and at the same time move to two-shift operation, they first realized that this would require grid investments of around 6 million SEK. But those figures were based on the machines' maximum output – not the actual usage. Thanks to detailed measurement data from DAZOQ, it was possible to show that a significantly smaller investment of 500 000 SEK, which saved the company 5,5 million SEK in investment with depreciation that would burden the business with 550 000 SEK per year.
THE RESULT
In one year, Precifast has thus reduced its energy costs by over SEK 500,000 through direct energy savings, while avoiding unnecessary investments of SEK 5.5 million. In addition, the company appreciates the value of having “a pair of external eyes” who follow up quarterly, which ensures that the work on energy efficiency continues in the long term. As Håkan Möller himself says: “Energy efficiency is not a sprint, but a marathon – and DAZOQ makes it possible to keep up the pace.”
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